


A Never-Ending Rotation of Rainbow-Colored Bowties

by theoriginalicecreamqueen



Series: The Untold Benefits of Brightly Colored Clothing [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Cinderella Elements, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 09:19:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11986839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoriginalicecreamqueen/pseuds/theoriginalicecreamqueen
Summary: King Joseph West loves his children very dearly, and likes to think he is a good father to them. It didn’t mean that in the midst of all this wedding planning, he wasn’t about ready to kill Barry and fiancé, Len. The two grooms kept ditching their planning duties, leaving Joe to deal with each crisis that arose. Lucky for him, their wedding planner's adorable assistant was a huge help. If only the man could be trusted to dress himself, Joe might have hoped to retain his sanity after the whole affair.Or the 5 times Lord Cisco Ramon wore the ugliest bowties in Central Kingdom, and the one time he didn't.





	1. Lime Green

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of a my series The Untold Benefits of Brightly Colored Clothing. It's not necessary to read the other installments to understand what is going on, but they do provide background for the world, and for the relationships between Lisa and Iris, as well as Barry and Len.

 

King Joseph West loves his children very dearly, and likes to think he is a good father to them. It didn’t mean that in the midst of all this wedding planning, he wasn’t about ready to kill them. Thankfully, the worst was over. Iris and Lisa were thoroughly enjoying a post-honeymoon vacation at the home Iris’s best friend, Princess Linda of Coast Kingdom, while Wally and Jessie were staying along the border of Central Kingdom at Star Castle for their ongoing honeymoon.

 

Iris was given the first slot even though she was second to be engaged. As the oldest and heir apparent it was proper for her to wed first. In theory, the two of them should have had the hardest wedding to plan. Iris and Lisa wanted a grand fairy tale wedding, and they had one. They had wanted every detail personalized, and so they had planned the event themselves. The girls had enlisted the help of their siblings and the Snart’s friend Mick Rory. It cost the crown a pretty penny, but as the wedding of the heir to Central Kingdom that was probably for the best anyways. Iris’s marriage was her last major step as the heir apparent, and the people needed to see a grand union. It lifted spirits throughout the land.

 

Wally and Jessie had gone for a much more subdued, but no less beautiful affair. Their wedding had been a thoroughly modern, fitting both the bride and the groom’s taste. Joe was almost as grateful for the calm of the event as he was the significantly reduced budget and Joe’s growing collection of grey hairs. Having all three kids getting married this close together was not cheap, even on a royal budget.  Like Iris and Lisa, the two had planned their wedding together to make sure everything was exactly how they pictured.

 

It was Barry and Leonard’s upcoming wedding that was driving the King to the brink of insanity. Unlike the last two royal weddings, neither of the grooms cared about the event itself. Joe was fairly positive that they had decided on getting married so close to Iris and Wally was so that the sex he really wished he didn’t know about wouldn’t cause a scandal. Both men were even more annoyed with wedding planning then he was. They had been roped heavily into the wedding planning for both of Barry’s siblings, something Joe had been fortunate enough to mostly escape.

 

That karma was more than coming back to him now.

 

Barry and Len had hired the best wedding planner in Central Kingdom, Lady Caitlin Snow. The woman was a consummate professional. She was efficient, detail oriented, and talented. She should have made the entire process quick and easy. Lady Caitlin would have too, if it wasn’t for her decidedly less professional partner.

 

Lord Cisco Ramon was rash, constantly scheming up new designs and tricks to help his boss, and he was so beautiful it hurt Joe to be in his presence. And, of course, the King was constantly being forced in Cisco’s presence. The two grooms were doing everything in their power to avoid planning their own wedding, while still having it done by their set date in only a five days time.

 

Lately, it seemed their favorite method of avoidance was having Joe deal with every little issue that arose. Seeing as Lady Caitlin had to actually organize the wedding, that meant Joe was constantly having to answer Cisco’s millions of wedding questions. He was ready to strangle someone. Probably the grooms, but he hadn’t ruled himself out either.

 

There were many things about the young lord’s presence that drove Joe mad. Currently, it was the way he was waving his hands. The action in itself was rather inconspicuous, but it drew attention to the lime-green bowtie Cisco had chosen for the day. Ms. Snow and Cisco had been staying at the palace for the past three months, and Joe had yet to see the man wear the same bowtie twice. He wanted to ask about it, but Joe wasn’t willing to let Cisco know that he’d noticed. Of course, it lead to situations like this.

 

“Your grace, have you heard a single word I’ve said?” Cisco asked. He sounded annoyed, and a little hurt as well. Damn, Joe really should have been listening to the man instead of allowing his mind to wonder once more. There was nothing to be done of it now though.

 

“Not even a little bit,” Joe admitted.

 

Cisco petulantly scowled. Joe both loved and hated the action. He was a big fan of the way it made Cisco’s lower lip stick out, but he hated to have made the annoyingly excitable man distressed because he was being distracted by the today’s awful bowtie.

 

“For real? Because I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to get your opinion on the centerpieces, and Cait’s going to kill me if we get this wrong,” Cisco informed him.

 

Cisco’s way of addressing Joe was - as usual for the young man - far too informal. He was a King, and across the lands he was supposed to be addressed with proper titles and respect. Usually hearing the words “your grace” or “my King” along with the beautiful language people directed his way was something Joe liked about his position. Most of the time when his subjects refused to address him properly he would make sure the mistake never happened again through his fierce rebuttals. When Cisco addressed him so informally though, the King was filled with a warmth. It was horrible, not to mention incredibly inappropriate.

 

“I’m sorry Cisco. I’ll tell you what, you tell Lady Caitlin that I fervently agreed with whatever you wanted, and I’ll back you up one-hundred percent. Will that work?”

 

Cisco’s broad smile in return was equal parts exciting and chilling. Joe loved the expression on the young Lord’s face, but he was mildly worried about whatever centerpieces he had just agreed to. Oh well, he thought. At least Barry and Leonard didn’t really care about the decorations.


	2. Bedazzled Blue

“My King! I need to talk to you,” Cisco yelled, rushing into his private study breathlessly. Joe was not supposed to be disturbed in there, even under normal circumstances. Today that rule was particularly important. He was in the middle of working through an important treatise with Starling Kingdom. But, as usual, rules like that meant absolutely nothing to Cisco Ramon.

 

Or, apparently, the squadron of private guards that were supposed to keep anyone from entering this room. What was he paying them for if they couldn’t even keep a thin, 5’7” man out of his office? Especially since Joe knew for a fact that his diet consisted of about 30% candy, and his slightly pudgy - yet still thin - frame definitely reflected that fact.

 

“What is it now, Cisco?” asked Joe, aggravated despite himself at the interruption. It was great to take a break from such awfully dull work, particularly since it came from Cisco, but he didn’t have time for this now. This document was too important to the future of both Kingdoms, and he needed to be focused. He could only hope that Cisco would be brief. 

 

“There’s a problem with the procession line up, and I can’t find the grooms anywhere. I swear I was watching them, but when I turned my back for a minute to deal with the baker making their cake, it was like they vanished into thin air! We really need them to make the final calls on their line up,” Cicso ranted, his face turning pink as the worry lines in his face deepened. It was adorable.

 

Joe pushed away the treatise with a deep, long-suffering sigh that was practically dedicated to his kids. “And what do you expect me to do about that?”

 

He could tell from Cisco’s tone this was not going to be an easy fix. The man was way too apologetic. Cisco never bothered with such formalities, not unless he was being a major pest. Not that Joe had ever really minded, but he wasn’t going to let the young lord know that. Joe would never get any work done if Cisco knew that he wasn’t actually annoyed at all the small interruptions Barry’s wedding had been causing him.

 

“Can’t you make them come back?” Cisco questioned, tentative in a way that was uncommon for the usually confident younger man. He nervously fiddled with his bowtie as he spoke, making it even more crooked than it had been before. Joe’s fingers twitched toward it, but he managed to hold back the urge.

 

However, he couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that Cisco’s question. If he’d had a even a small modicum of control over those two boys in the first place, he wouldn’t have been involved in the wedding planning at all. Then again, if Barry and Len were actually participating in their own wedding planning, Joe also wouldn’t have gotten so close to Cisco. This was definitely for the best alternative. 

 

Cisco, he was sure, would be wonderfully amused when he admitted that. It almost makes it worth what he knows is sure to be a trying afternoon to locate the young couple for a fitting. Between Barry’s extensive knowledge of the castle and Len’s (likely ill-gotten) skills at hiding, the two soon-to-be-grooms were nearly impossible to find when they wanted to be. Joe was definitely not finishing his work today.

 

“Cisco, if I knew how to do that do you really think we’d be having this conversation now? Hell, do you I we’d have had a single conversation about this damn wedding?”

 

Cisco’s face fell at his words, and Joe could have kicked himself. He just sounded like a complete asshole, not teasing like he’d been hoping. It wasn’t Cisco’s fault Joe’s day was going to hell in a handbasket. 

 

“Right, right. My bad. I’ll leave you to your work,” Cisco muttered, already backing out the door.

 

Joe quickly moved forward grabbed the younger man’s arm before he could think better of it, twirling him back around so they were nearly nose to nose. He couldn’t seem to stop his free hand from reaching up and straightening Cisco’s bowtie either - this time a cerulean tie that may have actually been passable if it wasn’t for the bedazzling - as he started speaking. It had been horribly distracting at that awful angle anyways.

 

“It’s nothing that can’t wait. I’m going to assume you’ve checked all their usual haunts like Barry’s lab?” Joe waited for Cisco’s nod to continue. “Right then, I think we are going to need to go to the stables for this one. Sometimes tells me they are in the forest again. The two idiots can’t keep their hands to themselves, so if they snuck off, that’s probably where they went.”

 

Cisco’s brilliant smile more than worth Joe’s delay.

 


	3. Hot Pink Paisley

“Seriously you two? You are getting married in three days! Can you not keep your hands to yourself until then!” Joe yelled at his errant son and soon-to-be son-in-law. 

 

The two sprang apart as though they had received an electric shock, and Joe had to force himself not to laugh at how utterly ridiculous they looked. It would have been inappropriate, although not as much as what Len and Barry had almost gotten up too. Well, almost gotten up to that particular time. Joe wasn’t foolish enough to think this was the first time the two had gotten this close to intimacy, and he doubted they were usually interrupted. Cisco did not share his reservations, and his booming laughter filled the hall. 

 

“Is this what you two are doing every time you go missing?” Cisco asked between his loud, unabashed laughs. Joe wanted to smack the younger man. Hadn’t they just discussed yesterday during their search in the forest how much Joe did not want to find out what Barry and Len had been doing?

 

“Oh god, do  _ not _ answer that!” Joe ordered as both boys opened their mouths. Unfortunately for him, it was too late. He knew Barry’s guilty looks from a mile off. His son had no poker face, and while he usually appreciated that, Joe was currently considering walloping himself over the head in hopes of amnesia. Having a theory about their shenanigans was much better than having confirmation, and all because his son was a terrible liar.

 

“Sorry Joe,” Barry apologized with a wince. Joe was positive his own expression matched the horror he saw on his son’s face. 

 

“Sorry Joe? What about ‘Sorry Cisco?’ You two are over an hour late to your final tux fittings! I covered for you to with Cait, so my ass is on the line here too. Time to go,” Cisco cut in, glaring the two grooms into submission. Well, he tried. It worked well on Barry, who face was a picture-perfect image of guilt. Barry had always been the easiest of his kids to guilt-trip. Leonard was a tougher nut to crack, but even he looked mildly apologetic. 

 

“You heard the man, boys. Go!” Joe ordered in his most authoritative tone. It worked about as well as he expected, meaning Barry was practically running to comply, and he dragged his fiancé with him. Cisco moved to follow, but Joe stopped him with a hand on the other man’s shoulder.

 

“Did you need something?” Cisco questioned. His confusion over Joe’s actions was obvious in his tone. It made perfect sense. Joe didn’t really know why he stopped Cisco either. He just knew he wasn’t ready for you younger man to leave yet.

 

So Joe straightened the young man’s bowtie once again as an excuse to keep him close. As much he enjoyed Cisco’s presence, it almost hurt him to touch this monstrosity, this insult to all things fashionable. It made the bedazzled one from the day before seem calm in comparison. This bowtie was a garish, hot pink paisley. It may have been Cisco’s worst one yet.

 

Joe was seriously wondering who the hell would make such a stupid piece, and if he could use his kingly authority to shut it down. He was overcome with the urge to rip it off, and let the rest of Cisco’s clothes follow in protest. The man obviously shouldn’t be given the authority to dress himself anyways. He may have tried if Len hadn’t turned back around the corner.

 

“You coming Cisco?” the former thief called down the hallway. Joe was hit with the sudden urge to throw something at him, a thought he guilty smothered as soon as it registered. What was he doing?

 

Joe let go of Cisco like was burned by the atrocious cloth, and Cisco hurried down the hall after sputtering out a quick excuse to both Len and Joe. Joe watched the gentle sashay of Cisco’s hips as he walked away, and the fluttering of his long, luscious locks curl. Cisco Ramon was absolutely glorious, and it was going to kill him.

 

Joe should not be having these thoughts about a man the same age as his children! Cisco was half his age. He was in big trouble.


	4. Neon Orange Tweed

Two days before the wedding, the castle was really starting to fill up. It was the perfect amount of time for most of their out-of-town guest. It gave them just long enough to get settled, unpack, and annoy the snot out of Joe with their often-pointless request, and it gave him enough time to take care of the valid ones so that everyone could enjoy the wedding itself. As the King, Joe was forced to spend most of the day greeting his these new guest. He was about ready to pull his own hair out.

 

Just as he was starting to seriously contemplate how upset Barry would be if he was half-bald in the wedding photos, a carriage that Joe recognized started up the walkway. It wasn’t nearly as grand as some of the other ones he’d seen that day. Its wheels were worn, the once fine yellow paint was chipping, and the drivers and the horses looked obviously fatigued. Its appearance was completely a front though. Joe knew the contents of that carriage was the most valuable thing in his kingdom.

 

“Dad!” Iris cheered directly in his ear in greeting as her arms were squeezing the life out of him.

 

As always, she had jumped straight from her carriage and into his waiting arms. It had became a lot more difficult catching her over the years as she got bigger, but they both pretended not to notice him stumbling back. He didn’t mind one bit. Joe had missed his baby girl, and he was sure he was hugging her back with as much force. They could worry about breathing later.

 

“I missed you so much, baby girl,” Joe confessed quietly into his daughter's curls, as though it was a secret and not something the entire castle knew. Iris laughed loudly and returned the sentiment before she let herself be enveloped once again in the arms of her wife. 

 

“It’s excellent to see you again, Your Grace,” greeted Lisa. Unlike Iris, Lisa kept a polite distance away. She was trying to maintain the dignity her wife had thrown away as soon as she’d seen her father.

 

Joe gave her the new princess his flattest, least impressed stare at the before he pulled her into his arms as well for a quick embrace. “We are family now, Lisa, and you are married to the heir apparent. You really have got to stop with the titles. You should also try to get use to the hugs, ‘cause I guarantee you Barry’s going to be hanging all over all of us over the next couple for days.”

 

“He’s so right, babe. Barry’s always been a hugger, but it gets a million times worse when he’s emotional. He’s practically a barnacle,” Iris laughed, bright, clear, and beautiful. God, Joe had missed his daughter.

 

“Really?” Lisa giggled back, her stiff mannerism fading as she stared at her new wife in obvious adoration.

 

Joe had wondered about Iris’s insistence at marrying some random women who ran away from her after the ball. Those doubts all faded the minute he saw the look Lisa had on her face right now. After hearing how nasty her father was to both her and Len, and the way Lisa was still able to love regardless of that abuse, he’d found himself completely taken with the sharp-witted but sweet siblings and their gruff (secretly a teddy bear) friend. 

 

Just as he was really starting to settle, the doors were thrown open behind him, and all three royals jumped. Not that any would admit to be startled by the slight, sweet young man that came rushing through.

 

“King Joe! Thank god I’ve found you. Oliver Queen and the Quentin Lance got in some huge blow out in the Great Hall about an hour ago. There are supposed to be sitting together at the reception  _ and _ they are an aisle away from each other at the ceremony. We’ve got to redo the entire seating chart for both,” Cisco breathlessly informed them.

 

He heard Iris say something about the issue, but he couldn’t make himself listen. He was too distracted by Cisco’s deft fingers as they loosened today’s monstrous bowtie around his neck. This nasty number was neon orange tweed. Joe needed to find out who was making such horrible fabric and shut them down. Right after he got ahold of those long, talented fingers, or the beautiful sliver of neck the action exposed. Joe wanted his mouth on it - pronto. Maybe he could just rip of the bowtie with his teeth? It’d make the it easier to reach the rest.

 

“You know what, Dad, why don’t Lisa and I take care of this for you? I’m sure you could use a break from all this wedding planning,” Iris offered, jolting him out of his lust-filled daze. 

 

“No thanks, sweetie. You girl need to get settle. Cisco and I can handle this,” Joe disagreed, grabbing Cisco’s arm and pulling him back into the castle before the girls could protest. He tried to convince himself that it was just an excuse to pull himself away from the guest’s arrivals. Joe didn’t believe it for a second.


	5. Yellow and Black Striped

Joe felt his blood start to run cold when he saw Lady Sherry coming his way. He was standing at the end of a hallway after helping Wally and Jessie deliver their stuff to their rooms, and he’d already heard them turn the lock. Joe couldn’t get back in there. He had about 90 seconds to prepare himself to for her forward, unabashed flirting. He was a King! He could handle this. At least, that’s what Joe was telling himself before he saw her start to turn his way. 

 

The second before Lady Sherry saw him, Joe hurried down the hallway and into the open supply closet. He then flung the door shut with a speed that even he was impressed with. Damn, he could still move.

 

“Holy smokes! Please don’t hurt me,” a familiar voice whimpered beside him in the pitch-black room.

 

“Shut up Cisco,” Joe begged, moving to cover what he guessed was Cisco’s with his hand, and whispering the words in the approximate area of his head. Joe lips brushed the man’s hair - holy cow, it was just as soft as he’d imagined - as he urged the younger man to stay quiet.

 

Cisco whimpered at Joe’s request, so he reluctantly backed away and reached around Cisco for the light switch. The younger man was staring up at him, eyes wide with surprise. His beautiful, plump lips were parted just the slightest bit too. Even his bowtie was rumpled, his normally pristine bowtie crumpled on both ends. Honestly it was probably an improvement, as Cisco did not pull off the mustard yellow tie, even with it’s black stripes. It made Cisco look like he was wearing a bloated bee. He looked beautifully disheveled, and Joe was hit with the sudden desire to make Cisco’s appearance match their situation a bit more.

 

“What’s going on?” murmured Cisco. 

 

“Lady Sherry is out there. If she sees me, I’m going to get stuck with her hanging off me for hours. So I’ve got to stay in here until she leaves, and you’re gonna have to stay with me too. You can’t lie well enough to face her,” Joe admitted.

 

He should probably be embarrassed to admit that he, a fully grown man and a King, was hiding from a woman’s advances. He’d met animals in heat less persistent though, and Joe just couldn’t subject himself to her again. Especially not after all the stress he’d had preparing for this damn wedding. 

 

“That’s probably true. So we’re just going to sit here, in the supply closet?” Cisco said, chuckling lightly as he sat on the floor at Joe’s feet. His head was uncomfortably (wonderfully) close to Joe’s crotch, so Joe joined him on the ground as soon as the man patted the floor beside him as an obvious invitation.

 

“Hell yeah we are. Trust me, this is the best option here. I’d rather spend all night stuck in here with you than face that awful woman,” Joe told him, 100% serious. Of course, he wasn’t going to admit that he wouldn’t mind spending an evening with Cisco in tight quarters, even without the looming threat of Lady Sherry.

 

Cisco’s answering grin was as blinding beautiful as always. His brown eyes were twinkling, even in the dim lighting of their closet. Joe couldn’t help himself from leaning closer, throwing an arm around Cisco as he gave into the urge to play with today’s bowtie. He started fluffing one side of the bow, before switching to the other. Joe tried to tell himself that it didn’t mean anything that Cisco was leaning into his touch. That Cisco’s warmth under Joe’s hand wasn’t making it embarrassing hard to control himself. That he didn’t keep stealing looks at Cisco’s lips, and that Cisco wasn’t doing the same to him. 

 

“So my King?” prompted Cisco. He was grinning even more broadly this time, and Joe knew the other man well enough by now to be able to tell that Cisco was planning trouble. Joe loved it.

 

“Yeah,” Joe responded, face and tone as stoic as he could make it to play the straight man to Cisco’s comedian. 

 

“Does this mean we are both in the closet?”

 

Joe couldn’t help laughter from overtaking him. It made Lady Sherry find them, and he had to come up with some quick excuse to explain their presence. Well, Cisco came up with the excuse. Who knew he was in that closet looking for tablecloths? Joe definitely didn’t. He hadn’t even known they had any stored that far from the ballrooms. 

 

Joe hadn’t been able to escape Lady Sherry unfortunately, even with Cisco’s excuse. He was sure his evening was going to be as awful as he had dreaded, but somehow the memory of Cisco’s laughter, along with the confirmation of his orientation made Joe’s heart soar. Nothing, not even Lady Sherry’s attempts to retire with him that evening, could bring his mood down.


	6. Purple Silk

Joe couldn’t believe how smoothly Barry’s wedding to Len went. After all of the catastrophes that arose during the planning, Joe was sure the wedding itself was going to be like stepping into a nightmare. He had forgotten, as he fretted, that Lady Caitlin Snow was considered the best wedding planner in the realm for a reason.

 

Everything that day had gone perfectly. The wedding flowed smoothly, his kids were actually where they were supposed to be, and all the various nobles and foreign royals who annoyed him had yet to make it close enough to say anything other than brief congratulations. As far as Joe was concerned, this day had turned into a miracle. 

 

The ceremony itself had been close to magical too. The decorations were classic, tastefully done, and entirely in shades of red (Barry’s favorite color), blue (Len’s favorite color), and a perfect lilac blend. Every little piece of the wedding seemed to show off the grooms, of their love. There hadn’t been a single person in the room without dry eyes, Joe included.

 

Who was he kidding? He’d cried the whole way through the ceremony. In his defense, the last of his children was getting married. Barry, who may not have been his child by blood like Iris and Wally, but who had become just as much of a piece of his heart. The sweet little boy who’d come to his home at eleven after watching his parents murdered, and still managed to brighten up the palace in a way that the West family hadn’t managed on their own since Francine died. Barry, the kid who’d always had a new science project that he was sure was going to help their people. His kind-hearted child who’d spent his whole life taking care of everyone around him. Joe was well within his parental rights to cry when he realized that with Len around, Barry was always going to have someone to take care of him too. It was everything he’d ever wanted for Barry.

 

“Your Grace, hello! Are you enjoying the festivities?” Lady Caitlin asked him, making her way to his table with an impressive ease.

 

The woman’s presence was soothing, just as the entire evening had managed to be. He’d seen her avert at least three disasters on her brief trip his way too him. Her talents were really being under-utilized as a wedding planner. He was going to try and keep her on as a diplomat after all of this, or at least the Royal Party Planner. Honestly, Joe was just as sure that she’d do just as much good for the realm is she kept planning parties like this than even his best diplomats could manage.

 

“You did a great job, my lady. I haven’t a day this stress-free in a long time. Probably not since before my coronation,” Joe admitted with a wide grin. Admittedly, part of it was because of the wine he’d been able to drink - gloriously uninterrupted - that evening. 

 

“Thank you, Your Grace. I’m afraid I can’t take all the credit though. My assistant, Lord Cisco, he’s been such a big help on his one. He’s been very insistent on several aspects of the coloring I see you’ve been enjoying,” Lady Caitlin informed him, grinning not only at the wine in his chalet, but purple silk tie he had been given for the occasion. “Plus, he’s definitely been the one keeping everyone away from you. He insisted that after all the planning you were forced into that you deserved to enjoy the actual ceremony.”

 

“What?” Joe asked, completely surprised.

 

Cisco did all of this? The delicate blending of Barry and Len’s taste that Joe thought was so beautiful, and he was the one making Joe’s day so wonderful? Of course he was. Cisco was perfect in every one way, so why wouldn’t he have been able to accomplish all of this too?

 

Joe said something - he couldn’t honestly say what - to get Caitlin to go fix the next crisis of the day so he could look for Cisco. He scanned the ballroom from his throne at the dinner table. It was a trial, finding the young lord amidst all the people currently crowded into his great hall, but Joe persisted anyways. Luckily for him, Cisco’s beautiful curls were unmistakable.

 

Once Joe spotted the young lord where he was talking animatedly with Lord Oliver Queen and Lady Felicity Smoak, Joe headed straight to him. He didn’t stop for the various people calling his name, not even when Iris tried to get him to dance. Right now Joe wasn’t the King or a father, but a man on a mission, and the man of dreams was in his sights. Joe didn’t stop for words when he reached Cisco.

 

Joe grabbed Cisco by the bowtie - purple, silk, and finally beautiful enough for its wearer - and pulled them together. He touched Cisco’s lips gently with his own, trying to put every bit of passion he’d been feeling into their kiss.  Joe was fully prepared to start panicking when Cisco froze, and he was ready to pull back and head away from this whole mess, but when he moved to pull away Cisco jolted into action. He jerked forward, arms around Joe’s neck and responding with a fervor and passion that made Joe’s knees weak.

 

When they seperated, Joe wanted to thank Cisco for everything - the wedding, the way he made Joe’s life so much brighter, or even just spending yet another moment with him. He wanted tell Cisco that he was stunningly beautiful, and that Joe could happily spend the rest of his life staring at him. None of this was what managed to make its way out of his mouth.

 

“What’s wrong with your bowties? The purple silk one is the first one I’ve seen that doesn’t have me convinced something is wrong with the free market in Central Kingdom,” Joe blurted out, a single hand going once again to fiddle with the young Lord’s bowtie.

 

Joe wanted to smack himself in the head. If he hadn’t been forced to let go of Cisco’s to do so, he definitely would have. Cisco, on the other hand, was incredibly amused at Joe’s foot-in-mouth syndrome. He was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes. 

 

“My bowties? They were all gifts. Well, most were at least. Actually it’s kinda funny, they mainly…” 

 

Joe cut him off with another kiss. “You know what? Forget I said that. Can we pretend it was something romantic and get out of here instead? We’ve got about a half hour until the cake gets cut, and I really want to talk with you first. In private.”

 

“Of course, my King. I’d follow you anywhere,” Cisco confessed with a grin.

 

Joe smiled back as he let go if that day’s bowtie in favor of grabbing Cisco’s hand. After all, as beautiful as the purple silk piece was, especially compared to the rest of Cisco’s never-ending rotation of brightly colored bowties, it couldn’t even begin to compare feeling of Cisco hand in his, the warmth of his skin, the small little calluses, and the dimples on Cisco’s face that appeared with his smile. This, Joe knew, was perfection.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Especially those of you who have been waiting for this since I posted the last installment to this series in June. I'll try to get the next one done much more quickly.
> 
> Please let me know what you think, either here on tumblr at theoriginalicecreamqueen.


End file.
